A need exists in the leather industry for very soft, flexible leather that is more durable and more resistant to hostile elements such as chemicals, oils and sweat than any currently available. There are many applications that require soft flexible leather and until now durability has been sacrificed for softness. The softest leathers are made from sheepskins because of their inherent loose and open fiber structure. But these qualities reduce the natural abrasion resistance and strength of sheepskin leather which are far less than that of leathers made from stiffer raw materials such as goat, horse, pig, cow or kangaroo skins.
The invention is directed to the field of leather and leather products enhanced by the fixing within the leather fiber structure particles of ABCITE®, one of the strongest, most abrasion resistant materials known.
Natural leather has many advantages over modern synthetics, but abrasion resistance and tensile strength are not among them. Natural leather is softer, breathes better and conforms better to human shapes when used in wearable products than current synthetic leathers. Leather is a by-product of the food industry and hides and skins will always be produced, while synthetic leathers, although stronger, are based on petroleum products which are becoming scarcer and more expensive over time. Therefore a need exists for stronger leather that still retains its favorable characteristics. The invention accomplishes this by converting ABCITE® pellets into a fine powder and inserting them into the leather and chemically bonding them and trapping them in the internal fiber matrix of the leather, reinforcing and strengthening it without affecting its natural softness, breathability and comfort factors.
Many products would benefit from a strength enhanced, soft flexible leather. Examples are: sports gloves requiring good touch and feel transmission such as golf and baseball batting gloves, industrial gloves used for delicate operations such as are required in the computer industry and many other applications where protection and sensitivity are requirements. The invention provides a method for making such leather and a product made from the leather that will increase grip and dexterity and provide extreme durability.